In an ill-tempered match which saw ten yellow cards and Darren Purse sent off for the visitors, an early Jovan Kirovski proved to be the difference between the sides as Birmingham took all three points at Loftus Road.

80' Substitution

Kirovski, making his full league debut for the club after following Steve Bruce from Crystal Palace to St Andrews in the summer, played a tidy one-two with Clinton Morrison and curled the ball into the bottom corner in the sixth minute.

However, the first half was devoid of any real interest after then, with Fulham showing little coherence between defence, midfield and attack although they did force Birmingham into two goal-line clearances. Steve Bruce's men deserved their lead - and Morrison should have doubled it when he had a great one-on-one opportunity after 56 minutes only for Edwin van der Sar to save well.

Birmingham were forced to play the final 21 minutes a man short when Purse, already on a yellow card, made a reckless lunge at Callum Willock and was booked again.

An untidy scrap of a match descended into a flurry of bookings from referee Andy D'Urso but Birmingham held on to leave their fans - many dressed in Father Christmas outfits - doing the conga as they clambered away from the drop zone.

Fulham boss Jean Tigana, who saw his side bow out of the UEFA Cup this week, was forced to pin his hopes on stand-in strikers Luis Boa Morte and Steed Malbranque again this afternoon.

The Cottagers were without all four recognised forwards, so winger Boa Morte and midfielder Malbranque led the line, just as they did in last weekend's 1-0 home success against Leeds.

For the Blues, combative midfielder Robbie Savage and ex-Fulham man Geoff Horsfield returned from suspension.

Damien Johnson saved Birmingham in the third minute, making a goal-line clearance after Sylvain Legwinski half-connected with a header from a corner.

The Frenchman's header deflected off Kenny Cunningham and was destined for thefar corner of the net until Johnson cleared.

But the opening goal came at the other end with just six minutes on the clock.

Kirovski played a neat one-two with Morrison on the edge of the Fulham penalty area and dispatched a superb, curling shot beyond van der Sar's dive and into the bottom corner.

It was a brilliant piece of finishing by the American midfielder.

Legwinski, Fulham's midfielder who has grafted a reputation for crunching tackles, curiously bottled a great attacking opportunity in the 21st minute.

He raced onto Boa Morte's through-ball, but with Blues goalkeeper Nico Vaesenin no-man's land 25 yards from goal, he pulled out of a 50-50 tackle with the shot-stopper.

Malbranque's close-range drive was then clearly deflected over the top off Purse but ref D'Urso awarded a goal-kick. Purse did brilliantly to head off his own goal-line when Legwinski met Boa Morte's looping cross with a towering header.

Fulham midfielder Junichi Inamoto, on as a half-time substitute, lasted just six minutes and limped off after sustaining a leg injury.

He was replaced by 21-year-old striker Willock, making only the fourth appearance of his Cottagers career. Savage became involved in a flare-up in the 53rd minute when Malbranque was booked for tussling with him and Andy Melville squared up to his Wales team-mate.

Van der Sar kept Fulham in the game when Morrison raced clear down the inside-right channel.

The former Palace player advanced on goal and the Dutch keeper saved with his right boot. Birmingham were reduced to 10 men in the 69th minute when Purse, already booked for a shove in the first half, made a reckless lunge at Willock.

The big centre-half caught the Fulham forward on his right thigh and did not even wait for ref D'Urso to show him his second yellow card before turning to walk down the tunnel.

Fulham substitute Lee Clark unleashed an absolute thunderbolt of a shot with eight minutes left - but Vaesen was in the right place to save.

Steve Finnan also sent a cracking volley just over the top as Fulham mounted a late rally. Legwinski missed a great chance in injury-time after the Blues defence panicked and Malbranque somehow failed to connect from just a yard out - with the goal gaping.

But the visitors hung on to collect three more precious points with Fulham too close for comfort to the relegation scrap just below them.